‘Death List’ Takes Center Stage in Fight Over Kraft Evidence

Attorneys for Randy Steven Kraft, accused by Orange County prosecutors of 37 murders in three states, laid the groundwork Tuesday for their first attack in keeping out of the case what prosecutors call a “death list” found in Kraft’s car.

After four years of widespread publicity about the Kraft case, the list and dozens of other items of evidence were brought into court for the first time Tuesday.

The list, considered an explosive piece of evidence, has been sealed by court order, so just a few of its details have been made public. The list is a white sheet of paper with more than 60 handwritten, coded items that prosecutors said is Kraft’s own list of his victims, according to earlier court documents.

Kraft’s attorneys contend that the search warrant that led to seizure of the list and other evidence from Kraft’s car the morning he was arrested on May 14, 1983, was overly broad, and that many of the items were not covered by the warrant.

Marine’s Body Found

Kraft was arrested following a routine traffic stop on the San Diego Freeway when two California Highway Patrol officers found a dead Marine, Terry Lee Gambrel, in the passenger seat.

Kraft has been charged with 16 Orange County slayings, but prosecutors have also filed papers accusing him in 21 other slayings, including six in Oregon and two in Michigan.

All the evidence from the car brought into court Tuesday was sealed in paper bags. James A. Sidebotham, an Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigator, wore white latex gloves as he carefully unstapled the bags and removed each item to note their contents, at the request of defense attorney William J. Kopeny.

There were no spectators in the courtroom Tuesday. But it’s unlikely that anyone would have known when Sidebotham got to the list. Kopeny carefully made sure that Sidebotham provided only the most cursory details for the record of any of the bags’ contents. The list was simply mentioned as one of the papers found in the trunk of Kraft’s car from Bag. No. 97.

But both Kopeny and Deputy Dist. Atty. James P. Cloninger hovered over Sidebotham when he got to the list. So did Superior Court Judge James K. Turner, who is hearing the evidence motion.

Wealth of Evidence

If Turner rules the list and the other evidence taken from the car were properly seized, defense attorneys are expected to attack it in a later motion as being meaningless.

Other evidence brought into court for the first time Tuesday included a knotted, white shoe lace--made into two loops. Earlier medical testimony showed that Gambrel’s wrists could have been tied by a shoelace.

Also included as evidence was a brown leather belt. While prosecutors have not elaborated on its significance, medical testimony at Kraft’s preliminary hearing showed Gambrel was probably strangled with a belt.

Brought into court Tuesday as evidence were the 44 photographs found under a floor mat, many of them depicting nude or partially nude young men, including at least three Kraft is accused of killing.

Search Was Intensified

Sidebotham testified that after he found the photographs under the floor mat, he ordered the search intensified. He said he thinks he ordered the car “gutted.”

And many of the car’s contents were brought into court Tuesday.

The paper sacks included seat belts, beer bottles, a torn up Social Security card, two shoelaces, computer printouts, drugstore bags, pill vials, clothes, papers for Kraft’s dog, a diary, a bank book, a camera, film canisters, papers, sand from the floor--and even a half peanut and a broken potato chip.

“Was there anything in the car that wasn’t fastened down that you didn’t take?” Kopeny asked.

“No,” Sidebotham answered.

In answers to questions all day, Sidebotham said he ordered items taken from Kraft’s car either “pursuant to the search warrant or for probable cause.”

Deputy D.A. Cloninger contends that Sidebotham was right to order everything taken from the car once the photographs were found.

“There was a reasonable suspicion that other evidence tying Kraft to victims would be found in the car--and there was,” Cloninger said.

The parade of evidence is expected to continue the rest of the week. More items from the car will be introduced Thursday. Kopeny has also asked for many of the items seized in court-ordered searches at Kraft’s home.

Investigators involved in the Oregon and Michigan murder cases are expected to testify at the search warrant hearing next week.